Far Away, In a Shadowy Land
by Chaos god of balance
Summary: When a familiar monster is center stage at a circus from a faraway land, Link will take a journey far from Hyrule, to make sure Midna's last words weren't a lie.
1. Chapter 1

Far Away, In a Shadowy Land

Chapter One: Beasts From Another Land

Link sighed as he looked at Castle Town's gate in the distance, people flooding in, even at this time, when night and day overlapped, at twilight. Many were Hyrulean, walking with their children or their dates. Others, however, were foreigners from the West. It was fairly difficult to distinguish the two groups from each other, as many of the foreigners sported the pointed ears associated with Hylians, added to the fact that most of them spoke Hylian. The rest of the foreigners were an odd assortment of short, stocky men with beards, a few small reptilian creatures similar to Lizalfos, and many people similar to Link's Ordanian family, with rounded ears.

Link hadn't been to Castle Town for over a year, not since Zelda had given him an honorary knighthood. People talked about the event like it was some grand festival, but Link's thoughts had been preoccupied during the affair. Constantly repeating Midna's last words: "Link, I…, See you later". He'd left before the festivities, returning home to Ordon.

Link had tired to start things back up with Ilia, but he could never get Midna's face out of his head, along with her last words. He'd spent dozens of sleepless nights thinking about them, pondering their meaning. He had eventually come to the conclusion that she could have only meant to say one thing, but that had only brought more unanswerable questions. Why did she not Finish? Would he be feeling this way if she had just said it? If she had, would she let him come with her, or even stay with him?

Link decided that these questions were unhelpful. He decided he just needed to move on. He had spent the last year at the ranch, herding the goats and practicing swordplay like before the Twilight, but he couldn't fool himself. He would often go to the Sacred Grove to think, sitting at the foot of the Master Sword's pedestal, asking more questions. Could he still hold the sword? If he did, could he find a way to find her? He decided one day to just stop, to just stop thinking about it, to put it down deep. Except at twilight. He allowed himself his feelings then.

He'd taken the village kids to Castle Town for the foreign circus. They'd already gone inside earlier, while Link pondered whether of not to go as well. He briefly thought about how much of a pain it would be to be caught, be quickly dismissed it. Not many people had even ever seen him up close, and even if he was wearing his green tunic, he would have been lost amongst a sea of people in performance garb from faraway lands.

As the darkness of night crept onto the field, Link mounted Epona and road towards the gate. He had nothing better to do, and besides, maybe a foreign taste might be enough to take his mind off things.

* * *

><p>The day's main attraction appeared to be a circus. The colossal red stripped tent that the event was held up had been set up on the other side of Hyrule Field, and looked large enough to seat thousands. A tall, grey skinned man stood at the entrance of the tent, collecting rupees from those entering. He was rather brutish, with his lower canines pointing out of his mouth like tusks, with many scars crossing his already ugly face. "Twenty rupees," He said in a low, mean tone.<p>

"That's a bit steep, don't you think?" Link said, counting out several of the colored gems and placing them in the bouncer's outstretched hands.

The grey man counted the rupees in his hands "Your money grow on trees, in grass. Mine from earth and hill," He said, ushering Link in.

The interior of the tent seemed somehow larger that the exterior. Several stands of benches surrounded the center circle, which was at least a hundred feet across. Hundreds of people crowded the stands, with several brightly dressed men selling odd foreign treats that smelled sweet and large tankards of ale. All of this was lit by orbs of light hanging in the air. Link climbed a set of benches to the top and sat next to one of the short bearded men he had seen earlier. "How did they make those lights?" Link asked.

"It's magic," The man answered in a low, gruff voice. "Pretty simple I hear."

"Magic, really?" Throughout his entire adventure, Link had seen a fair bit of magic, but most of it had been Midna's Twili magic, and most of that had seemed pretty situational. "Do you have a lot of magic in your lands?"

"Shhhhhh! It's starting," The lights above the stands dimmed as a brightly dressed man took to the center of the tent. His coat was bright red, his boots red and blue, and he wore black and white stripped tights.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, people of Hyrule! I welcome you to the Circus of Amazement!" His voice seemed to be coming from every direction, almost like there was an echo. "For our first display, we'll show you something scary, something terrifying, something mysterious even in my homeland," He raised his hand to the side of the ring, to an area of impenetrable of darkness that Link could swear hadn't existed a moment before.

"From far away, in a shadowy land, I present you with the Shadow Binders and their Screaming Beast!" From the darkness emerged five tall, slender men in black ropes and rune covered masks, holding chains that extended into the darkness. Each mask was flat and grey, featuring a unique blood red symbol in its center. As they walked into the light, they tugged hard on the chain, and the creature crawled out.

The first part to come out were its front limbs. They were long and slender, completely blacked, and looked more like arms than legs. The next part was its face, if you could call it that. It seemed to be wearing a intricately carved stone mask bigger than its head, with odd, hair-like tendrils coming out the back of its head. The rest of its body was coal black, but had red lines crossing its body. As it was pulled into the light, it let out a long, mournful screech that sent some in the audience.

Link had heard that screech several times before, and the sound itself didn't phase him. But of all watching he was affected the most. It was a Shadow Beast, from the Twilight Realm.

Somewhere, somebody could get there.


	2. Chapter 2

Far Away, In a Shadowy Land

Chapter 2: A New Journey

Link quickly left after the Shadow Beast was dragged back into the darkness from whence it came, going around to a large camp where shouts in five different languages rang out. Link took a position just outside a large flap in the circus tent, watching as a four of the five Shadow Binders walked out, the beast tightly wrapped in tight, rune covered chains.

"Four," Link muttered to himself. "Too many, where's the other one?" Link watched from his position as the black-clad masked men dragged the creature through the camp, all the other performers giving them a wide berth. As they went out of sight, Link decided to wait for the fifth member of the group.

It was a several minutes before the last of the Shadow Binders exited the colossal tent. He was shorter than all the other of his companions, but that still put him at Link's height, considering that the others were all extremely tall. Every step caused a jingle to emanate from a cloth sack at his waist. He looked left, then right, then left again before quietly slipping behind a nearby tent. Link reached into the pouch at his waist, his finger brushing a fragment of pure darkness, his last fragment of Midna.

The transformation into a wolf didn't cause pain as it once did; becoming as easy as slipping on a cloak. Link kept close to the ground, staying behind the cover of crates and barrels, assuming that someone called a "Shadow Binder" could see in the dark. He crept through several alleys in tent city. Eventually, the Shadow Binder stopped, seemingly randomly, and opened his sack of coins. He quickly sifted through them, pocketing about a quarter of them. Link decided it was time to strike, focusing on the golden power in his hand.

"Where did the beast come from?" Link demanded. The Shadow Binder turned and gasped. Link noticed that the Shadow Binder had several knives across his body, but wasn't drawing them. "Are you going to just stand there? Answer Me!" Link was near his limit. With the Shadow Beast and his wolf form, old emotions were being dredged up.

"You won't get an answer from her," Said a voice entering the alley. "And the best you could get from everybody else in this camp is 'far away, in a shadowy land.'"

Link turned, reaching for his sword. At the entrance of the alley stood the speaker. He was slightly taller than Link, and probably about his age. He had curly brown hair that hung to the tops of his grey-green eyes, a clean shaven face, and he wore a deep blue vest over a shirt of chains. He had a pouch, a book, and a sword on his belt. "What?"

"Shadow Binders are masters of stealth, shadow magics, and secrets. She won't talk until you prove yourself by learning her secrets," He said in a matter of fact manner.

"You're a girl?" The shadow binder nodded her head.

"See? You know something about her, and she respects you for it. Thus is the way her order works," He held out his hand. "My name is Griffin, by the way."

Link took his hand and shook it "Link."

"Why are you after her?" Griffin asked "Have you had trouble with the Shadow Binders?"

Link shook his head. "No, I honestly haven't even heard about them until today. But that thing they brought? I've seen plenty of those. Do you know what was happening in Hyrule a year ago?"

"Your land was covered darkness, right?" Griffin seemed think for awhile. "Yeah, some ancient evil awakened and covered your land in darkness. Makes sense something like that would come from it."

"Why do you talk like it like it's no big deal!"

Griffin took his book from his belt and seemingly flipped through it randomly. "You've never even heard of Ralia, have you?" He said, looking over his book.

Link had heard of Ralia, but only once or twice. People said it was very far away, far to the west. Every once in a while wanderers or merchants would come out of the vast emptiness that stood between it and Hyrule. Assuming Griffin meant knowing about things other than its existence, Link decided stay quiet.

Griffin sighed. He seemed like the type of person that sighed a lot. "A hundred years ago, an insane dragon tried to burn the world in Ralia. Two hundred years before that, an entity of pure and utter darkness attempted to return existence to nothingness. A thousand years before that, an ancient civilization sacrificed its gods in attempt to kill everyone who wash't them," He closed his book with a loud clap. "And it seems every other day a wizard, or a demonic cult, or a unspeakable being from beyond the stars above tries to kill everything. One land falling to darkness is nothing."

Link was utterly speechless, and if the Shadow Binder was talking, Link assumed she would be as well.

"But if you want to find out where those things came from, you're going to have to go to Ralia. The road is long and hard, but it has magic that makes this place look like a pile of mud. Our caravan leaves by way of Nayru Canyon in two days, so if you're coming, say goodbye to your family now," And with that, he turned, making for the main street of the temporary city of tents. Just before leaving their alley, he turned. "Sorry about being so dramatic, I just really wanted to do that. See you!"


	3. Chapter 3

Far Away, In a Shadow Land

Chapter 3: Into Lands Unknown

Link had already decided that he was going, he was just trying to figure out how to say goodbye. He'd already packed his things: the Ordon sword, the Hero's bow, and pretty much every other item from his travels that could be put in the bag. He would have loved to take everything, but some things were just to cumbersome without Midna's strange storage system.

Link sighed, looking around his old home. It was small, but comfy; a large treehouse built many years ago. Link had moved here after he turned fourteen, deciding that he was old enough to live on his own. Though he never really was alone; anyone coming and going in the village could simply yell to him.

That didn't happen much anymore, however. Everyone seemed to sense Link had something heavy on his shoulders, and gave him his space. He wished they didn't. He tried as hard as he could to fit back into village life, but try as hard as he could, he'd seen too much. He'd seen the endless expanse that is the Gerudo desert, the boiling pits of the Eldin volcano, even an ancient temple before it was ancient.

Link heard a wolf howl, almost certainly at the night's full moon. He hadn't realized it was night. And night meant that the caravan left in about twenty hours, leaving to a land were he had a chance of seeing Midna again.

When the sun had risen Fado noticed Link hadn't been to the ranch yet. He yelled for him, but he didn't come out. He climbed the ladder to the door and knocked loudly, thinking that he just might not be feeling it today. After no answer came, he opened the door into the treehouse, which felt rather empty. Fado saw that a note sat on the table. It read "Going away for awhile. might be more than a year until I come back. Love Link."

* * *

><p>Link rode into the camp on his chestnut mare Epona right as the last cart was loaded. The walls of the canyon rose high above on either side, sheer white cliffs. There were probably two hundred people in that canyon, an odd mix of round eared humanoids, people with varying degrees of pointed ears, short wide men with long beards, and folk only as tall as children. Mixed in were a few stranger specimens: Short lizards that walked like he did, flying balls of light, and some complete mysteries in heavy robes.<p>

Link found Griffin sitting in the middle of the group. He was sitting in the shade of a rocky outcrop, and seemed to be telling a floating ball of pale blue light to do something. As Link approached, he saw it had wings stetting out its back.

"I told you, hover steadily above my book," Griffin commanded the fairy.

"If you want reading light, then sit in the sun!" The fairy's voice was high pitched, but Link couldn't tell if it was male or female. Throughout his travels, Link had made use of fairies, but they'd never spoke to him.

"Because its too hot," Griffin complained. He lowered his book when he saw Link. "Hey! You came," He looked up and down at Link's green tunic. "A bit green. You do know we'll be crossing hundreds of miles of dry open plains for months?"

"I in fact did not," Link responded. "What's with the flying ball? Some of your magic?"

"No, but my magic would probably work better, lazy spri-OW" The ball of light landed heavily on Griffin's head.

The glow around it faded, revealing a six inch tall young woman with hair the color of her glow, gossamer wings extending from her back. "My name's Navi," She extended her hand, Shaking it was a bit odd, as Link's was as big as her entire body. "I'm the greatest Navite Fiddler in the whole world. I'm named after a great hero, and I mean to live up to the name." She seemed Prouder than most people six feet taller than her.

She seemed ready to divulge her entire life story when Griffin flicked her off it head. "Yep. Her job is to keep spirits up and write down everything we do to tell it when we become famous."

"Do you have any other oddballs around here?" Link asked.

"Right behind you is the last one." Link turned to see the Shadow Binder from before had approached without a sound. Link hadn't gotten a good look at her before. Everything on her was either black or very white grey, except for her mask, which was shaped to be like some beast, sculpted in some hard white material. Two eyeholes revealed two ruby red eyes. She had four daggers in total strapped to her waist, but Link wouldn't doubt more were hidden elsewhere. She had a short bow shaped from black wood slung over her narrow shoulders, as well as a quiver of black shafted arrows with white flights.

"Why Is she here, and where are the others?" Link ground his teeth. He was so close, but the rules of this girl's stupid order were keeping him from knowing the truth.

"She's heading home with the rest of us," Griffin said, flipping through the book with an almost uncaring air. "As for the rest, they travel separately. Their order dictates that members of a group travel apart, so the secrets they share together are not lost if peril befalls them," He closed his book.

Navi Landed on Links head before he could speak. "Griffin, why do you do that when you explain things? It doesn't make you look smart, it just makes you look pretentious," She rubbed herself in Link's hat. "Mmmhhh, soft. Hey Link, it okay if sleep up here?"

"Uh, I guess?" It was a question that Link never expected to answer, but Link had the feeling Midna would ask the same question if she had been Navi's size. He could feel Navi settle amounts the many folds of his hat.

"You'll never get rid of her you know. She's like termites," He looked up at the sun. "We'll be leaving as soon as the next group arrives."

A horn cut through the air from the back of the caravan. Link looked back to see the last group arriving. They were a mixed group, all bearded men or people taller, men and women alike. Most were rugged, having several scars and wearing fur. Looking more closely there were even a few children, most almost certainly the children of the rest. Most of the older ones seemed somehow feral, uncontrolled and wild. The children for the most were still wild, but it seems like they were more control, experiencing the world more comfortably. The man leading the group was the most impressive. He was tall, well over six feet. He wore what seemed like the pelt of a wolf, but whatever beast it had come from, it wan't from Hyrule; it was the size of a small horse. He had long unkept brown hair, and his face was a had many scars. But his eyes. Link had seen those kind of eyes before. Sometimes he saw them in his reflection, but never in his mirror.

**If you were wondering, yes, those are Elves and Dwarves. I play D&D, and the better part of this will take place in my home-brew world**


End file.
